Altuve's timetable to return still unclear as he heads to Florida to continue injury rehab

HOUSTON -- Jose Altuve drew a couple of ovations from Astros fans when he emerged from the first-base dugout at Wrigley Field about 90 minutes prior to Saturday’s game against the Cubs. Altuve waved to the fans and did a light workout in the outfield, marking the beginning of his progression back from an oblique injury.

Altuve suffered a grade 2 left oblique strain while swinging the bat in a game May 16 and was placed on the 10-day injured list. There is no timetable on how long he will be out, but Astros outfielder Jake Meyers missed nearly six weeks earlier this season with a similar injury.

“I didn’t want to be in this situation,” Altuve said. “I want to be on the field, but it is what it is. I’m just working every day and praying for a quick recovery, and hopefully I can get back to the field sooner than later.”

Altuve missed three weeks in August 2023 with left oblique “discomfort,” and said his current oblique injury is not as bad.

“I’m playing it day by day, and if we progress good, we’ll keep going,” he said. “Hopefully, that’s the case.”

Altuve will head to the team’s facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday to continue his rehab. Altuve, in his 16th season with Houston, was slashing .245/.326/.380 with four homers and 12 RBIs in 42 games before getting injured, becoming the sixth member of the Opening Day lineup to wind up on the IL at some point this year.

“He’ll start ramping up stuff [in Florida], just to have more one-on-one time with our trainers,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He wants to be around. … All these [injured] guys, when they’re around, it feels like the group is complete. Right now, getting him on the field is very important. We’re going to make some changes to his schedule and try to ramp things up and get it going.”

The Astros have 13 players on the injured list and could be close to getting a couple more active next week. Houston will have four players play in a Minor League game Sunday on rehab assignment at Double-A Corpus Christi -- starting pitcher Hunter Brown (shoulder strain), reliever Josh Hader (biceps tendinitis) and outfielders Taylor Trammell (left groin strain) and Joey Loperfido (right quad strain).

Trammell has been with Corpus Christi for a few days and could be activated next week, while Loperfido will be playing in his first rehab game. Hader, who’s been out all season, is nearing the end of his rehab, while Brown is making his first rehab start.